FBI holds news conference on ballot box fires in Pacific Northwest during 2024 election

PORTLAND, Ore. — The FBI held a press conference about the three on Thursday ballot boxes are burning seen in Oregon and Washington state during the 2024 elections, which officials labeled an election fraud attack on democracy.

On October 28, about a week before Election Day, a ballot drop box in Portland, Oregon, and one in neighboring Vancouver, Washington state, were set on fire. The drop box fire in Vancouver, home to one of the most competitive US House races in the country – hundreds of ballots damaged.

A mailbox fire suppression system in Portland prevented most ballots from being scorched. Only three of the ballots inside were damaged.

The Vancouver ballot box also had a fire suppression system, but that did not prevent hundreds of ballots from being damaged. According to the Clark County Auditor’s Office, election staff were able to identify nearly 500 damaged ballots removed from the box.

A previous drop box fire in Vancouver on October 8 did not damage any ballots. Vancouver, the largest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, was the scene of a competitive House race between Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who was seeking a second term, and Republican challenger Joe Kent.

Authorities believe a male suspect may have done that experience in metalworking and welding was behind the three fires. They have described him as a white male, between 30 and 40 years old, who is bald or has very short hair.

The FBI has specifically asked for help identifying the suspect’s car. Surveillance cameras captured images of a dark-colored Volvo S-60 sedan from early 2003 to 2004, but at the time of the two most recent ballot box fires on Oct. 28 in Portland and Vancouver, it had a fraudulent Washington temporary license plate on the car. the back and no front plate, the agency said.

The Oct. 28 firebombings were marked with the message “Liberate Gaza,” according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. A third device placed at another mailbox in Vancouver on Oct. 8 also contained the words “Free Palestine” in addition to “Free Gaza,” the official said.

Authorities are trying to determine whether the suspect actually had pro-Palestinian views or used the message to sow confusion, the official said.

The FBI offered this $25,000 reward for information about the suspect.